Last saturday I went to see one of my all time favourite bands for the first time, Guns n Roses. It was not only an amazing night because of hearing all the songs I'd been head banging to since junior kindergarden but also because i never thought I would ever get to see the original line up of Guns N Roses in my lifetime. Well almost the original line up Izzy Stradlin decided to continue playing with The Hollywood Vampires rather then come back to Guns. None the less nothing was going to stop me from seeing the band that literally was the sound track to my childhood. My biggest fear about this concert was that I was going into it with such high expectations that their was no way they could be met. As soon as Axl took the stage and Slash started shredding his guitar I knew that by the end of the night my expectations would not only be met but would be shattered, and shattered they were. Im still in post concert depression as I sit here now reminiscing about how glorious that night was and weeping onto my keyboard. The concert was easily the best concert Ive ever been too. Guns N Roses played such a good show that I will now use it as my comparison to all other concerts I attend and see if they can measure up.
I saw Guns at the sold out Rogers Centre in Toronto, I had never seen a show at the Rogers Centre before aside from sporting events and I have to say it was breathtaking. The sea of people that was north of fifty thousand all singing and dancing was a sight I will never forget. The venue itself isn't built for musical acts so at times it was hard to hear especially when Axl was talking to the fans. Luckily though when GNR played they played so loud and fast that even with the thousands of people singing and crappy audio you could hear them as clear as if they were playing in your living room. Since Im talking about the sound quality at the moment I have to say Axl has some how managed to keep his voice in pristine condition through the years, his voice was on par with how he sounded on their records. Throughout the entire concert I dont think I heard one voice crack or missed note and thats saying something since these guys played for nearly three hours. Thats right three hours, they got on just before 10:00 pm and got off a little before 1:00 am. They played every song you could've wanted to hear and then some, you could really tell that they were giving this show their all. Now that my fan girling is over Ill get on with the songs they played.
The first song Guns played was "Its So Easy" and this song set the tone for the entire night, it was like a flash back to the eighties as Axl screamed out his signature high pitch chorus and danced across the stage. Within seconds of the song starting the crowd lost their minds and went nuts, screaming the lyrics and dancing like crazy people. Slash was shredding at the edge of the stage for almost the entire song and was hanging his guitar over the fans as he plucked his guitar inhumanly fast making everyone who saw his hands at work stare dumbly at how a human being could move that fast.
Without even a moments delay "Its So Easy Ended" and the opening drum beat to "Mr. Brownstone" came on, rattling everyones skull in the venue. This time we were met with another signature vocal characteristic of Axl Rose and that was his extremely low baritone voice. This time though instead of Slash beating his guitar at the edge of the stage him and Duff Mckegan ran and switched sides of the stage before twirling and simultaniously playing their guitars with amazing accuracy. Every break in the vocals Axl ran or danced to a different part of the stage so that everyone was able to get a good view of the rocker. To top off everything that was already going on on stage an insane light show began which synchronized with the drumming that was nearly breathtaking and if anyone their had epilepsy I feel sincerely bad for them.
Then there was a slight lull on stage as Axl said a few comments to the audience that were barely audible because the crowd was so loud after realizing that no one could hear him Axl began to resume playing. Then the title track off of their newest record to date "Chinese Democracy"kicked off giving the crowd an intermission of sorts to refill their beer and go take a dump without missing anything to important. At least a quarter of the floor left and I dont know how many of the people in the cheap seats left during this song, it was almost comical as person after person sat down in a depressed heap like a toddler that had just had their candy bar taken away. I was so pre occupied with people watching that I missed the entire song, not that I was overly broken up about it.
As if to apologize for making us sit through that travesty the next song was one of the most well known songs Guns has written,"Welcome To The Jungle." I thought people went nuts during "Its So Easy" this was a whole new level. Axl walked up to the front of the stage looking extremely pissed off and held the mic up to his mouth before screaming "YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?" At this point the people in the stadium lost it. Before the music had even begun bodies were moving and heads were banging. Then Axl after taking a good long look at the crowd brought the mic back up to his mouth and yelled one more time "YOUR IN THE JUNGLE BABY! YOUR GONNA DIE!" From then on its more or less a blur as fire works were shooting off into the sky, the lights kicked in and the band went absolutely nuts as they danced, thrashed and yelled their way through the song. After playing through that track it was now extremely evident at how hard the band was working to give us a great show they were head to toe dripping with sweat and panting like fat kids in gym class.
Im not gonna review each and every song because they did have a twenty five song set and I know you guys dont want to sit here for an hour and a half as I babble on and on about how great they were. So Im going to skip ahead a couple songs to "Live And Let Die" which is another great song, although its actually not written by Guns but by the band "Wings" pretty much everyone remembers it as a Guns N Roses song. They once again expertly played through the song rocking everyone to the core and Axl's vocal range made the song as good as the first time I heard it with the quick highs and lows it was amazing to listen to.
The next song that everyone seemed to loose their mind was "You Could Be Mine" which pretty much everyone knows as the tune John Connor plays while riding his dirt bike in Terminator 2. Although the response wasn't as crazy as when they played 'Welcome To The Jungle" the crowd was still very much into the track as everywhere you looked heads banged and people chanted the lyrics. Slash again was ripping through his guitar this time he was standing on one of the platforms that elevated him about five feet in the air. That didn't stop him from spinning and banging his head and to compliment his craziness Axl was doing all the dance moves we've been seeing since 1987 when they first debuted with "Appetite For Destruction."
Skipping ahead another couple of songs we were met with the legendary "Sweet Child O' Mine" which when the opening solo started I got goosebumps at how amazing it sounded. The band tightened up ranks for this song instead of their usual spread out wild dancing and everywhere you looked in the crowd their were lighters out and people putting their arms around their friends. It was amazing and the entire audience and Axl sang in unison as the song went on, it was in my opinion the coolest moment Ive ever underwent at a concert. It was down right astounding.
Then their was of course "November Rain" starting out with Axl on the Piano and the band taking a much needed breather as the intro of the song was underway, Guns killed this song to. Even though it is a slower song by them they made sure to keep the rocking atmosphere of the show as they jammed away to "November Rain" getting the entire crowd once again singing along in unison.
The for the finale they played my all time favourite Guns N Roses song "Paradise City" and the audience answered by going just as wild as during "Welcome To The Jungle" as the intro started you could already see people getting ready for Axl to blow that whistle that symbolized the slow part of the song was over and that they were about to unleash hell. Finally when he did the stage show Guns N Roses put on was astronomical, the entire stage erupted in fire works as the band seemed to forget their aching muscles and body parts and go absolutely wild. Spinning, twirling and thrashing their bodies to the beat. I dont think anyone in the band stopped moving for a second during that song as they raged on with everyone in the crowd before finally the last legendary words of the song sprung out "OH WONT YOU PLEASE TAKE ME HOME!" The stage went silent and the screaming and applause was deafening as Guns N Roses slowly filed off the stage.
Im already hoping that Guns N Roses comes back and when they do you can bet Ill be standing front and centre banging my head till Im concussed. They put on an excellent show and reminded everyone that rock and metal are far from dead.
Headbangers Heaven Productions.
Eric Snelling.
2016 All Rights Reserved.
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